Anybody else buy these? I've got like a zillion of em lying around my house. They're a quick and dirty way to get the highlights most of the time and many are better than some artist's regular albums.
The Essential Series is my favorite. Two disc featuring (usually) pretty much everything you could ever want from the artist, plus some hidden gems.
Cheap Trick and Weird Al in particular have some great representation here.
Essential... pisses me off somewhat because Columbia still hasn't done a "The Essential Mahavishnu Orchestra" yet.
Its about time really.
They're great if you don't have a majority of their albums already. Essential series seems good. I also enjoy the concert type albums and related videos.
I have the Essential Bruce Springsteen.
Great compilation overall but leaves some songs out.
Looking at the Essential Iron Maiden listing, it doesn't look like too good of a compilation.
No Hallowed or Rime? Fail on instant. Even if it's just supposed to be a singles collection, the lack of "Infinite Dreams" and "Stranger in a Strange Land" in favor for "Heaven Can Wait" and "Paschendale" (which as much as I like is NOT a single) stings.
Some of the Essential series is chosen by the artist. I believe the Springsteen one was chosen by him, and even in the liner notes he says he was missing some great songs.
The Maiden one... Well, that just seems lame.